We are setting off to start our new life in Melbourne, Australia.
With us on this adventure is as little as we could imagine bringing to a
new home halfway around the world. Two bags for each of us to last until
our half container pod of remaining essentials (and some not so) are set
to arrive 4-6 weeks after we do.
On a steel gray January morning we bid adieu to Alley 24, our home
for nearly four years, tossed our two bags into the Subaru for the last
time and drove up to Ballard to crash in our friend’s 4’ by 7’ TV room.
This will be our cozy accommodations for four nights until our flight on
the 20th. Sometime in that span we’ll be selling our trusty steed and
further shedding some last possessions that missed the boat but can’t be
justified in the checked luggage.
Now that we are unemployed, transient couch surfers the enormity of
the move must be faced. No more second guessing the decision, no more
dreamy discussions. Now just real, live logistics – an AirBnB, work
visas, money transfers, international shipping manifestos, packing
re-packing our luggage.
We’ll be there soon and once we arrive we’ll do our best to document
our adventure here so feel free to follow along as we share the
highlights of our life Down Under.
Arrival in a Strange Land
22 January 2015 Melbourne, Vic
A full twenty-four hours after leaving Seattle – via our scheduled
Los Angeles stop and our unscheduled Sydney one – we arrived in
Melbourne. Immigration and customs took a matter of minutes, either a
nod to Australian efficiency or, possibly, apathy. Our journey to the
taxi stand took us outside and into the heat, a very welcome 36C (97F)
heat. As our cab headed into the city our fatigue and exhaustion melted
away as our new home came into view out of the car windows. We had made
it. Our new lives here were a blank canvass waiting for us to fill them
with memories of a lifetime. This blew a strong wind into our sails;
ready we were to see what this continent has to offer.
After a few wrong turns down some tricky one-way alleys, our driver
found our AirBNB flat (apartment) and set us free. We dumped
our luggage, changed into our bathers (swimsuits) and headed
down to the St. Kilda beach to showcase the whitest skin in all of Oz
(Australia), perhaps the Southern Hemisphere. In the mid-arvo
(afternoon),our hunger pangs drove us from the beach to Fitzroy
Street for a snack. We cashed in our gift certificate to Milk the Cow, a wine and cheese
shop near the beach. All manner of fancy spreads and cuts were brought
our way; all consumed in short order. We retired for our first night
down under, but not before catching a few matches of The Tennis (The
Australian Open) on The Tele (TV).
Settling In
23 January 2015 St. Kilda, Vic
On our first full day we dove right into the culture with a lazy cup
of morning tea ([Twinnings] (https://twinings.com.au/), of course) on the deck. The
cool, marine breeze of the early morning quickly gave way to summer
heat. Inspired to experience this new place we took a long walk along
the Bay
Trail down to Point Ormond. This is a truly fantastic trail.
Kilometers upon kilometers of pricey coast real estate dedicated solely
to public use. We will undoubtedly spend considerable time moving to and
fro on non-vehicular thoroughfare. Bikes must be purchased and soon.
Andy is keen on rollerblades; Erin not so much so.
The walk back was warm; the heat, the sweat, the sun on our skin all
so wonderful after the last few months in wet and cool Pacific
Northwest. We live here now.
The Tennis
24 January 2015 Melbourne, Vic
For three weeks in late January and early February all eyes – in the
tennis world at least – are on Melbourne and the Australian Open. Or, more affectionately
referred to here on the ground as The Tennis . The cultural
immersion program we had set for ourselves dictated that we attend.
On a gorgeous, sunny Saturday with temperatures near 30C (86F) we
arrived early, as did the rest of the city. Tickets to the two main
courts were sold out so we settled for ground passes. A ground pass
allows access to all other venues but main courts, including the very
large Hisense Arena. Our lack of planning did mean we’d miss Venus
Williams’ match; however, our early arrival permitted a viewing of
Serena practicing from up close, so not all was lost. It should not go
unmentioned that the lines to enter the cultural events – the beer and
wine gardens – stretched on to the far reaches of the grounds as
Melbourne’s 20-somethings shook off last night’s hangover and queued up
for another run at it. No prom or gala in America had anything on this
scene.
Serena’s practice session sated our patriotic hunger; next on to
Hisense for some live matches. Prior to the opening 11am match seats
were plentiful. As rookies do, we made a rookie mistake and sat in the
glaring sun, amazed at why such good seats were available when less
optimal ones (shaded) were taken. A few hours later, the place was
packed and we were sweating through our clothes, the full power of
antipodal sun baking our pale northern bodies. We endured two hours of
roasting to see the Spaniard, Muguruza, down Bacsinszky of Switzerland
in a hard fought women’s singles match. A welcome relief as the shade
enveloped us for match two. Here, the 8th ranked Montenegro-Canadian
Milos Raonic used his 220+ km/h serve to breeze by the scrappy Benjamin
Becker of Germany.
The grounds were throbbing full at this point and, needing food and
drink, we called it a day and left for home. Our hunger and thirst
pulled us into a pit stop at the Royal Croquet Club’s (RCC) off-site
Aussie Open extravaganza…basically a massive beer garden with food
trucks, croquet courts and a DJ spinning house music. Attendance was
thin – it was early – but judging by the size of the beer stands it
would become a righteous rave later in the evening. Still jet-lagged and
a good decade older than the intended demographic we could not muster
the resolve to go on a day-long drinking spree and, after a delicious
snack and two Hahn Lights, made our way home. Cultural immersion
complete for today.
Market Day
25 January 2015 Melbourne, Vic
The Queen Victoria Market is both a
tourist trap full of fake Australian Outback hats and crocodile wallets
as well as fully functional grocery store and mercantile. In what other
seven hectare space upon the face of this earth can you buy a pallet of
kangaroo pelts, powerful mystery crystals, Footie gear, a 55-gallon drum
of raw almonds, Crest toothpaste, collectible dolls, antique hunting
knives and a dozen fresh duck eggs? Any form of great quest can be
outfitted from here; same too for fulfilling the needs of most eccentric
among us. There is truly something for everyone. We bought none of the
above, instead spending most our time investigating the widest variety
of cured meats we’d ever seen.
[Erin] Being from Seattle, my expectations of coffee are high.
Melbourne’s reputation as having a world class coffee culture proceeds
it. In the three days we’ve been here, I’ve found it to be as promised
and have been been gleefully sampling from a variety of new favorite,
local cafes. Market Lane
Coffee has a corner shop in the Queen Vic Market and since I wasn’t
really sure what a flat white or a long black would end up as, I ordered
a cappuccino like a pro, right up until I tried to pay for a $4 coffee
with two 20 cent coins. (For some reason the smaller coins are larger
amounts here). After Googling “long black” I decided it would be the
closest to my Americano order back home and I can avoid looking like a
complete dumbass next time. I am also adding this bit of information to
save you all from Googling “long black” in the workplace.
With Market bags in hand and caffeine needs met, we took the tram
back to our temporary home in St. Kilda for a sunny lunch on our patio.
At some point we will stop acting like this is a vacation and get on
with the details of finding a permanent dwelling, communicating with
family, preparing for work, being responsible adults, but not quite
yet…after all, we are still wearing fresh, clean clothes from our
suitcases. Life doesn’t really start until laundry calls.
’Stralia Day
26 January 2015 Burwood, Vic
Australia Day celebrates the 1788 landing of the British First Fleet
at Sydney Cove. We expected something like an Australian Fourth of July
extravaganza. However, on account of souring public opinion over the
ensuing treatment of the Aboriginal peoples, the reality of the holiday
is something closer to a modest Columbus Day barbecue. As luck so had
it, an old classmate of Erin’s had recently moved to Melbourne and had
extended to us an invite to a afternoon party out in Wattle
Park, east of the city. On the (not to scale) Melbourne tram map, it
looked close enough. Ignorant of the speed, or lack thereof, of the tram
system we jumped aboard the 16 Tram headed east then north through
St. Kilda East, Balacava, Caulfield North, Malvern, Kooyong and then
Hawthorn where we transferred to the 70 Tram whereupon we crawled
through Hawthorn East, Camberwell, Surrey Hills and finally into
Burwood, home to the Park of Wattle. Along the way we were overtaken by
many cyclists, scooters, rickshaws, jitneys, wheelchairs, mums with
prams, stray dogs; really anything wheeled or anyone particularly fleet
of foot was bound to pass us eventually.
Ninety or so minutes later we arrived. The beer that we purchased at
the beginning of our journey was now fully the temperature of the
ambient air. The small fete was enjoyable, a good chance to meet some
local people and test our new land’s ability to throw a bash. Marooned
out here in the burbs, the only economically sensible thing to do was to
ride the same slow pony back to town…at least we knew what to expect
this time. We rewarded ourselves for our arduous travels with some of
the world’s greatest frozen yogurt, Yo-Chi. To walk off these excess
calories, we ambled down to the beach to watch the sun dip below the
gentle waves of Port Phillip Bay.
Back to Work
27 January 2015 University of Melbourne, Vic
[Andy] Eventually, the fun had to end. I was down here for a job
after all. Mind you I wasn’t headed to the salt mines or anything
resembling difficult physical labor, but coming back to a schedule and
being responsible to an employer was an unwelcome change
nonetheless.
I arrived to the sparkling new Melbourne School of Design (MSD)
building and my 9:30 appointment with the department’s lowest ranking
human resources official to find that my name was not ‘in the system’.
As a result, I could not be granted my ID card, login information,
email, etc. Really anything that would permit me to do any actual work,
administrative or otherwise. I was, however, awarded my complimentary
kitchen set with a tea mug of a color of my choosing. Now this is the
warm welcome I had been expecting. Editor’s Note from the Future: This
was a foreshadow of the general competence and priorities of the
department.
Additionally, due to some scheduling issues, there is a squatter in
my current office for the next few weeks. I have been set up with with a
temporary work space in a large group meeting-type room (with adequate
space for my tea set). It is comfortable enough and my office mates – a
pair of ebony mannequins of differing completeness – are quiet, albeit a
bit weird.
By midday I was starting to wonder if I actually had a job here, but
in wandering the halls I did locate a door with my name on it…so at
least someone was expecting me. With any luck tomorrow I’ll be able to
commence my tenure at the University. For now, I’m just a visitor stuck
in a room with mannequins busy balancing his spoon on his nose while
shotgunning lukewarm, free tea. Oh yeah, and every time I leave the room
to go to the bathroom I need to place a chair in the door lest it close
behind me and lock me out.
Beach Boxes
30 January 2015 Brighton, Vic
When not outside basking in the glorious January weather, we are busy
on Domain.com.au searching for
a place to live. Visiting these homes means walking or taking the
trams/trains to different neighborhoods around the city until we are
exhausted or sunburned, often both. Our standard operating procedure
once in such a condition is to find refuge and relief in a gelato or
frozen yogurt shop. I dare you to judge us.
Recently we found ourselves in Brighton touring a home which was
wonderful but also for which we didn’t really have the budget to live
in. Brighton is a beautiful and bougie location just inland from a
sparkling white beach. Like a crow drawn to shiny objects, Erin
gravitates towards bright colors and patterns. Being this close, we made
time to visit to the famous Brighton
Beach Bathing Boxes. Our stay was no short affair.
Sticking our toes in the sand and watching the tourists (ourselves
not included; we are locals after all) fumbled with self-sticks was a
needed distraction from the stress of finding a home. The rental process
here is, well, odd. Open houses or inspections, as they are referred to,
are 15 minute affairs, and unfurnished rentals don’t come with a
washer/dryer, dishwasher or refrigerator unless you are lucky. As a
result, the next time we move, we will be the proud owners of a bunch of
big ass appliances. Two of the houses that we are interested in have
inspection times tomorrow, unwittingly with overlapping 15 minute
periods and across town from one another. We will divide and conquer,
and hopefully trust the other’s judgment…but for now, we worry not about
this and relax on the beach dreaming of our next cool, sugary treat.
In Search of a Home
1 February 2015 St. Kilda, Vic
As the calendar turned to February we remain vagabonds, living off of
takeout at our small, but comfortable AirBnB in the heart of St. Kilda.
We recently put in a rental application for a small
brick home in charming Albert Park. There are no guarantees here in
this ‘lottery for a rental home’ system as it is not clear what merits
or perhaps roll of a dice determine whether or not we’ll enjoy the
luxury of paying a lot of money for a quaint living space. This home is
one of hundreds that we’ve looked at online and one of a handful that
we’ve inspected and applied for. We feel like we have a good chance here
because it isn’t the in the hip, cool neighborhoods north of the city,
but in a quieter, family-ish area to the south. All the better for us as
we prefer beaches and parks to bars and brunches anyways.
This process has been, well, exhausting. Our past weekend consisted
mostly of jumping on and off various trams to schlep around to far-flung
areas of the city in order to inspect homes or check out new
neighborhoods. At some of the more glamorously located places, the
crowds are insane; over 50 people showed up to a house in Fitzroy on
Saturday morning. All this bandying about has its benefits – we stumbled
on a wild Chinese New Year celebration, have found some of the city’s
best architecture, sampled even more frozen yogurt and gelato shops and
even procured Erin her first (likely of many) Australian meat pies. We
know some tram routes by heart and now have a pretty good sense of what
is overpriced. All this local knowledge should also help Andy in the
classroom where his first day of teaching is soon approaching.
Not So Super Bowl
2 February 2015 Prahran, Vic
It was 9am Monday morning and we were headed not to work or to a
house showing but, instead, to a pub. A friend from Seattle of a friend
from Seattle had invited us out to the College Lawn Hotel in the
Prahran neighborhood for the Super Bowl. Entrance was pricey, but we did
get all you could drink beers and wines and a wide variety of free bar
foods. This is the sort of spectacle we had expected given all of our
study about our new land suggested that the Aussies were “mad for
sport.” Upon arrival, we noticed the 12th man flag in the window. We had
made a good choice.
The place filled quickly and there were about 200 people jammed in by
the time the game started. The College Lawn is a big place with numerous
outdoor beer gardens, separate rooms and bars, so it never really felt
too crowded. I’d guess it was about 50% Seahawks fans, 30% Patriots
fans, 10% random NFL jerseys (Barry Sanders, Darrelle Revis and Mark
Chmura…ok, no Mark Chmura) with the balance made up of about 20 odd
Aussie dudes who didn’t care much for the game, but couldn’t seem to
pass up all-you-could drink event on a Monday morning.
We met about a dozen people from Seattle or the surrounding area,
including one ex-Seattleite whose name was, I kid you not, Erin Krause.
The people and the atmosphere were great, the beer was good and the food
was, well, filling. We’ll stop there as nothing really needs to be said
about the game
itself….at least we had an ample selection of decent Australian
microbrews (and Heineken) to kill the pain.
How Ya Goin
4 February 2015 Albert Park, Vic
After many tours, followup emails and countless hours scouring online
listings, we finally secured a place to live. It is a wee Victorian
cottage in a neighborhood called Albert Park. It is a quaint, but
upscale little area with adequate, but not hip, amenities. Importantly
is only a walk or short bike ride to the beach and a direct tram ride
away from the University and downtown Melbourne. We are undoubtedly
bringing down the median income for the area. We get the keys on Friday,
so we will share more later in the week about the house.
[Erin] Today, I focused on some early neighborhood reconnaissance.
Near our house (feels weird to say this) is another open air market, the
South Melbourne
Market. Compared to the Victoria Market we visited last week, this
market is much smaller, but it still has amazing variety and better
prices. It is less catered to the tourists and more toward locals
looking for their groceries, staple items and delicious meals. Specialty
shops abound, like the Tea
Drop an entire booth dedicated to exotic and high end teas. It has
Easter egg-colored canisters stacked so high, it necessitated a ladder
to reach them. And that bookstore-style ladder is not just some trendy
design detail, my own order required its use.
Picking my way slowly stall by stall through the market, I continued
to come across the same issue we’ve both have had for the past two weeks
of meeting and greeting friendly Aussies. Instead of the “G’day” that
everyone in America expects Australians to say, we almost always get
some slurred version of ‘How ya goin’ or ‘How’re ya going?’ This
obviously means ‘Hi, How are you doing?’, and so we usually answer
‘Good’, but every single time there is an urge to answer the question of
where I’m going or how I got here, By tram? St. Kilda? I walked?
Knowing that we’d soon be leaving our St.Kilda apartment we spent our
evening with a dinner at Babu Ji a fashionable
Indian restaurant just down the street. For a bit more than the cost of
standard meal, the quality was outstanding. Some of most unique Indian
flavors we each have ever tasted. We are quite grateful that our new
home is just a short tram ride away from this gem. To aid in the
digestion of this large meal, we concluded with a nice long walk along
St.Kilda Beach. Our home beach for just a few more days, until we
relocated a mile or so to the west.
Ikea-a-thon
8-9 February 2015 Richmond, Vic
We now have a house. It is filled with exactly nothing as all we own
here are the bags we brought on the plane (and the various suncreens
Andy has hoarded in the past two weeks) and those are still at the
AirBnB we have for a few more days. So we went shopping. Furniture
shopping – the seventh level of hell for one of us. In fact, Andy might
prefer any of the following over furniture shopping: going to the
dentist, watching period-piece dramas and line dancing. All of this
shopping was, however, book-ended by two outdoor festival-type events
and fun pit stops along the way – which is probably why we got through
it in one piece. And, not only does Andy now know the difference between
a left and right chaise lounge but he can spot pebble weave upholstery
from 50 meters out….
All of the things that we couldn’t physically carry out of the store
will be delivered to our home sometime in the next week. With any luck
our number of days of sleeping on the floor will be exactly zero.
Overall, our weekend went something like this:
(Fri) South Melbourne Market night
market complete with delicious street paella.
(Sat) Some suburban Ikea and Domain Housewares Mall (think Ron
Swanson’s personal hell).
(Sun AM) West Elm, then urban Ikea (yes, multiple Ikeas in a
weekend)
(Sun PM) The St. Kilda Festival with
300,000 of our fellow Melburnians…right in our back yard.
Moving In
12 February 2015 Albert Park, Vic
This entire blog post could be about nothing more than the series of
minor failures that we have had in the past week while moving into our
new home. Instead, we will channel the positive and enlighten you with
the few, but crucial wins we have had secured.
To begin, we are now the proud owners of a complete set of ‘white
goods’ – washing machine, dryer, and refrigerator. True adults are we.
Once past the initial annoyance of knowing that we would have to not
only buy these and but then also move them around to each place we will
rent in the city we have become quite attached to them. Not so far as to
name them, though. Not yet.
As our shipping crate of things – some necessary and others not – has
been delayed until late March, we are trying to get by living minimally
until then. While temporarily living with ‘just the essentials’ seems
simple enough, it really isn’t as fun as it sounds to cook a full meal
in one pot, or share one towel or sleep on a bed frame without the
proper slats, therefore folding the mattress like a burrito, (one of
many IKEA fails). To remedy this, Erin broke down and just started
buying things we needed. As satisfying as it felt to start filling up
the house, without a car, she was the girl walking a mile and a half
with a stainless steel garbage can balanced on her head, and then back a
mile and a half to return it when she realized it didn’t work with a
plastic bag since, per the shopkeeper, you were just supposed to rinse
out the plastic liner each time (?). Okay, so in the end we did share
some of the fails; some things are too good to keep to oneself.
Back in the win column, we also bought bikes this week. This affair
took an entire afternoon at 99
Bikesbut we ended up with two beautiful road bikes at a bargain
price as well as finding ourselves a new and very Lithuanian friend.
Test riding the bikes was a little horrific at first since biking on the
wrong side of the road is only slightly less jarring than driving on the
wrong side, but we caught on quick. It took a little convincing our
friend that Erin wasn’t completely helpless on a bike, and in the end we
both walked away with men’s bikes. Erin was informed this men’s bike
would fit her fine due to her “gentlemen’s shoulders”. We also learned
more than we wanted to know about a recent crime epidemic in Footscray,
the state of immigration politics in Australia and tips for maintaining
proper brake cable tightness.
Our new wheels allowed us to explore farther and faster than before.
This offered a needed break from hours of Ikea instruction following. It
is also provided much needed practice at operating on the opposite side
of street as we will, eventually, find ourselves driving down here.
A Downtown Walkabout
14 February 2015 Melbourne, Vic
To celebrate St. Valentine (Valentino in the large Italian sector of
Melbourne) we explored our city – a long date filled with many cultural
institutions and ice creams. We began with a trip to the State Library and concluded at Federation Square, connecting these
two iconic places via the least efficient and most interesting route
possible. Down alleyways and up lanes, along the Yarra River walk and
through a Chinese New Year’s festival. Erin paused to capture more
photos of activated streetscapes and sidewalk cafes than Andy cared to,
but this city is proving to be a designer’s dream and she can’t help but
get swept up in it.
Over the past few weeks, Erin has spent considerable time in cafes
stealing wi-fi and drinking coffee with Melburnians. She’s become
familiar with the standard breakfast that is ordered to accompany a
morning coffee. The usual is a granola-based dish (occasionally bircher)
with yogurt and some take on fruit compote. Now that we have acquired a
pot for our kitchen, she has decided she should start making this simple
breakfast dish at home instead of eating out so much. We are in the
middle of summer, and all the markets are selling stone fruit for crazy
sales, so recently she lugged home 2 kilos of it – which is, as she
learned, considerably more than two pounds and not that easy to carry
home. When Andy came home to a fruit poaching factory and asked what I
was making, he heard ‘Truman Capote’ instead of ‘fruit compote’, so now
every morning for breakfast, I sit down to a small, but satisfying bowl
of yogurt and Truman compote.
A Slice of Home
21 February 2015 Melbourne, Vic
In need of a vacuum, a year’s worth of toilet paper, three liters of
barbecue sauce, a kilo and half of haloumi and several other bulk items
that can only be moved with a pallet jack, we took a short tram ride to
Costco
Australia, conveniently located just north of downtown Melbourne.
Rumor has it that the Melburnians were so pleased with the arrival of
the big ‘C’ that they built a Ferris wheel in the parking lot.
It was hot; 37C to be exact, which is about 99F if you are a Yank.
Inside of Costco – a Costco nearly identical in shape, layout, color and
smell to those back home – was a comfortable 20 degrees. There were
Kirkland signs everywhere, large families moving very slowly down every
aisle and the pervasive odor (aroma?) of grilled meats. We trolled the
samples; Erin hitting up the Jelly Belly lady more times than is likely
allowed. Our cart swelled, we had purchased enough necessities that we
had to catch a cab home as schlepping all of our goods on the tram would
have been poor form. It was oddly comforting (or maybe no so oddly) to
be in a place so familiar so far from home. We’ll definitely make this a
monthly outing…if for no other reason than to buy affordable American
whiskey.
In the afternoon, we took a short walk to the Optus store to update
our cell phone plans. On the way home we were caught in a very heavy
15-minute downpour. The sun was shining, the wind howling and massive
raindrops pummeled the sidewalk. It passed, but the heat did not abate
so we grabbed some cheap beers and headed to the beach for sunset.
Sundowners on the beach just a ten minute walk from home. This is a life
one can get used to.
Furniture and F1
25 February 2015 Albert Park, Vic
It was a big week for us. We bought a grill (barbie), our
couch and desk were delivered (installed incorrectly) and our internet
was finally installed (with speeds near that of Andy’s early 2000s dorm
room…). After tethering our cell phones to our computers in order to get
work done and sitting on the floor for 2 weeks, this was a big
improvement. That said, we are coming around to the minimalist approach.
Here, here, Marie
Kondo. By the time our shipping crate arrives – now scheduled for
early April – we may wonder why we thought we needed all the stuff we
brought from Seattle. We will also have to find a place for our bikes
which are currently stored in our second bedroom with all of the giant
boxes from our appliances. Our recycling bin is small so each week Erin
carefully cuts down the huge boxes into smaller pieces to jam into the
tiny bin. We may have emptied that room out by mid-April, it will be
tight. We’ve considered an illegal bonfire in the middle of street some
night, but the Aussies as a whole are a bit jumpy about potential bush
fires.
We are riding our bikes every day and it almost feels OK to be riding
on the wrong (left) side of the road. After we moved in to the
neighborhood we realized that the Melbourne Grand Prix course
takes up residence here as well every March. Although the races don’t
actually start until the 12th of March, the course has been under
construction since we have been here. The course is a loop road around
Albert Park
Lake and until they fully shut the road down our new evening ritual
is to take laps around the course. It is actually quite fun whipping
around the F1 course with no cars on it. Apparently it is going to be
incredibly loud in our little village, but it seems like it will be
entertaining. A lady in Erin’s boxing class said she heads to the coast
every year at this time since the neighborhood becomes “overrun with
Bogans” (Australian term for ‘redneck’).
A Walk in the City, A Walk in the Bush
2 March 2015 Melbourne + Belgrave, Vic
We are getting to know our new city bit by bit and day by day.
Whether by suggestions from new friends, places we have read about on
local websites or curiosities stumbled upon while lost, we end up on
weekly field trips to discover little city gems.
Whilst wandering the city, one of the most pleasant surprises is
volume and diversity of street art in Melbourne. This weekend we decided
to specifically search out some of the downtown alleys and lanes that
have been transformed to destinations. While at first we were reminded
of the Gum Wall in Pike Place Market – the alleys smelled appropriately
of warm garbage and small packs of people were milling around and taking
pictures – the colorful and character-filled alleys won us over and our
hunt for the best hidden murals took most of the afternoon.
Before we moved here, we made it a priority each weekend get out of
the city to hike or camp. We realized it had been five weeks of living
in Melbourne and we hadn’t gotten out of town so we decided to take the
train 1.5 hours east to the end of the line and spend some time hiking
in the Dandendong
Ranges National Park. The Ranges are hills, not mountains, but no
matter, nature is nature. We hiked through massive Eucalyptus forests
and other than an unruly and incredibly loud swarm of parrots, we didn’t
run into any wildlife, poisonous or otherwise. The smell of the
Eucalyptus forests are intoxicating; an aroma that will no doubt stick
with us for the rest of our days. Erin did see a small red ant on Andy’s
back on the walk back to the train station which she immediately
overreacted to and yelled “Fire Ant!” before swatting at repeatedly. The
veracity of the ant sighting remains in doubt by one of our party.
Classroom Debut
8 March 2015 Parkville, Vic
[Andy] The students returned to campus this week, which meant the
peacefulness I had been enjoying at work was suddenly shattered. It was
easy to forget what a scene a thriving 40,000 student campus could
become. Added to this was the fact that we were housed in a brand new
building, the likes of which the students hadn’t seen yet, so much
gawking, pointing and general malaise in way-finding occurred. The start
of the school year also meant that I had to teach.
In terms of week one, well, I survived. My class lost a few minutes
being locked out of our room and I undoubtedly used a number of American
terms that they have no idea the meaning of. To date, no official
complaints were lodged with administration. We’ll see how many students
show up this coming week. While the students were focused on finding
their classes, I sneaked away one afternoon to read in the sun on the
surprisingly empty cricket grounds, enjoying the open spaces far from
the teeming masses.
After we accepted the job here and realized we would be moving to
Melbourne, we spent a good bit of time poking around on Google Earth to
check out our new city. Once we came upon the small town of Ferntree
Gully, we knew we had to pay it a visit. I mean, it just sounds
mystical, right? The weather on Saturday was cloudy, but pleasant so we
hopped a train bound for this – assumed to be – magical place.
The town is located at the edge of the Dandenong
Ranges National Park, and hiking is the main attraction. While it
wasn’t the easiest place to get into, the hike proved quite steep,
challenging and full of massive eucalyptus (gum) trees and very little
undergrowth. A really nice, though busy, place for an afternoon hike.
Also, today we learned that there is an Upper
(but no lower) Ferntree Gully; the Upper also containing a chocolate
factory.
On Sunday morning, we went for a short bike ride along the beach,
cleaned up the back yard and then, when the sun came out, went back to
the beach to relax. We caught the end of a co-ed beach volleyball
tournament – that with a bit of practice – we figured we could have been
competitive in. Next year….
We are settling in to a rhythm, a life less driven by hectic home
searching and appliance shopping and more on finding a calmer, healthier
routine than we had back in the States.
Experimental Cooking
18 March 2015 Parkville, Vic
[Erin] Growing up, whenever my mom would try a meal outside of her
wheelhouse, she would always preface the meal with the descriptive
warning that it was ‘experimental’. Carrying this over into my adult
life, I have begun to refer to Andy’s enthusiastic use of flavors and
discretionary attention to recipes as ‘experimental cooking’ and now
whenever we try something new, it gets the ‘experimental’
disclaimer.
Food is culture. And there are a lot of new flavors in Melbourne for
us to audition. Lamb shows up in places it would never been seen in the
U.S. There is a new palette of seafood and an incredible amount of
beetroot. Some foods just have different names, like Capsicums (bell
peppers), Lollies (sweets), PawPaw (Papaya), hundreds and thousands
(candy sprinkles). When I go to the market, I often spend a lot of time
wandering around finding new things to try out in recipes. The latest
experiment involved a can of Duck Fat I found at the market. Although
this sounds absolutely disgusting, and honestly doesn’t look much
better, I roasted baby potatoes and sage with duck fat and it was
delicious. I am pretty sure we will always be fully stocked with a gross
little can of duck fat in our pantry from now on.
We remain without our shipment of goods and I refuse to buy a bunch
of kitchen tools/dishes since we have all of our stuff ‘on-the-way’, we
are rolling with just the essentials right now. This means 1 pot, 1
pitcher, 2 sets of cutlery, 2 plates/bowls and a variety of Shark Reef Knives that we got
for Christmas and had to check in our baggage. Remarkably, one can do a
lot with one pot. Just today with said pot, I made tea, poached two
eggs, toasted some pepitas, trapped a large bee-fly and transported it
outside, cooked a chili pork ragu, and cooked and then roasted a cheesy
polenta. Of course this usually means it takes twice the amount of time
that any normal cooking process might take, but it usually gives me
twice the satisfaction. Plus, Australia is an island and everyone here
is on some form of Island time…might as well join the crowd.
Today’s Experiment: Chili Pork Ragu over Cheesy Polenta and Kale
Salad with Fennel and Apple.
In adventure news, we rigged a setup to allow our hammock in the
backyard (garden) and took a nice long bike ride down the Yarra River
Trail, stopping only ‘intermittently’ to photograph interesting
landscape design.
Mornington, Day 1
20 March 2015 Mornington Peninsula, Vic
For Erin’s upcoming birthday we decided to finally leave the comforts
of the big city and venture into rural Victoria – the Mornington
Peninsula to be precise. To do so meant renting a car and driving. Not
just any driving, but driving on the left hand side of the road…or
basically unlearning everything that you’ve been consciously (and
sometimes not so) doing for the past 15-20 years.
We picked up our small Toyota at 9am on Friday morning, convincing
conned the salesman into believing that we knew what we were doing,
entered the car on the correct side and managed to get out of the rental
lot without hitting anything or anyone. The first 15 minutes are weird.
It is very hard to estimate the extents of your vehicle and we took a
slow, circuitous route home to pick up our luggage and then were off.
The next 45 minutes are a bit less weird and finally after about an hour
or so of driving it starts to feel somewhat natural.
Out of the city, we continued on the Nepean highway to the little
town of Mornington and stopped for breakfast. From there we took the bay
side road all the way to the Point
Nepean National Park. The parking lot was located in the old
hospital and quarantine grounds that were used to offload passengers
from British ships and stop the spread of typhus or whatever other
diseases (not including bad taste and worse cooking) the Brits were
bringing this way. From there, we hiked the coast all the way to the end
of the Peninsula and the former Fort Nepean. Along the way we explored
many of the bunkers, though for fear of snakes and poisonous spiders
elected to remain on the exterior. The threat of unexploded ordnance,
however, couldn’t quite keep our adventurous spirits in check.
We hiked the road on the way back from the Fort and ran into our
first large native monotreme, an echidna. Despite Erin’s attempts to get
a selfie with our new friend, he remained completely oblivious to us and
cared only about sucking ants up out of the ground.
After our hike, we drove down to the Cape
Schanck lighthouse, our intended accommodation for the evening. Upon
arrival, we were notified that they were full and that they had not
received our reservation details from Expedia. After 90 minutes of phone
calls to various parties we were able to wrangle a refund from Expedia
(or so we’ve been promised). Each side blamed the other and tried to set
us up elsewhere, but we just took the money and ran. Most places were
full on a Friday night but we were able to land a room at the Lindenderry
Farm and Winery up on Red Hill. We slept comfortably after a long
day of beach hikes, driving and phone calls with various customer
service representatives…the latter being the most exhausting.
This was our first trip out to the open ocean (as Melbourne is on
Port Philip Bay) and it is every bit as wild, windy and rugged as
imagined. Oh, and also quite beautiful.
Mornington, Day 2
21 March 2015 Mornington Peninsula, Vic
Our last minute lodging at the Lindenderry Farm and Winery proved
restful and we woke before sunrise to head to the Mornington Peninsula Hot
Springs. With over twenty mineral pools to dip and soak in, we
thought it would be the perfect morning activity. As the first people
through the door, we hustled up the hill to stake our claim in the aptly
named Hilltop pool. Doing so enabled us to catch sunrise with a
360-degree view all to ourselves. As other guests started to show up to
the best pool in the land, we made our way down the hill to try out each
of the different mineral pools.
Erin loves lighthouses. There is something romantically lonely and
tragic about them and they are always anchored on some patch of wild
coastline like a brave little pawn. The Cape Schanck Lighthouse was no
different, and even though we weren’t able to spend the night there as
planned…we did return today to hike along the coastal trails of the
National Park. Although the weather was hot and sunny, the wind made the
temperature feel quite brisk, and after walking down the many stairs
from lighthouse, we tucked in to this little cove and stretched out on
the warm rocks before the steep hike back up the cliffs.
We spent the remainder of the day driving along the coast from small
town to small town. We stopped at a beach outside of Flinders to watch
the surf competition that was in progress and next, in the town of
Sorrento, at the sports fields to watch an ongoing game of Australian
Rules Football. We had apparently parked in the equivalent of the
endzone and our rental card got hit a few times by the ball. We probably
could not have been less obvious as outsiders if we been sprinting
around draped in a house-sized American flag. To finish the day, we met
up with some of our new friends at a particularly photogenic beach cove
in the town of Portsea
for ‘sun-downers’. With our new mates, local wine and our toes buried in
the sand, we toasted to the weekend.
Bachelor Life
31 March 2015 Albert Park, Vic
[Andy] A few weeks ago, you heard about Erin’s daily routine of
one-pot cooking, sun-bathing and trips to the market. With Erin in
Hawaii visiting her family and me living the bachelor life, I’ll provide
some insight into my own daily exploits.
I teach on Tuesday and generally have meetings, class prep and other
administrative duties on Monday and Thursdays. On those days, I take the
leisurely 80-meter walk to our nearby stop and grab one of the #1 trams all the way
to the University. While a slow and often cramped ride, it drops me off
less than a block from our new Melbourne School of Design
building. These old beasts are usually full of business people and
students and do, somewhat sadly, lack the ‘socio-economic experience’ of
riding the bus through downtown Seattle.
My office (shared) is in the far northwest corner of the top floor of
our new MSD building. It afford regional views and abundant sunlight.
Wednesdays and Fridays are work-at-home research days whenever possible.
Weather permitting, they begin with a long, exploratory bike ride
somewhere around the city. Melbourne has an amazing number of bike
trails and lanes which make navigating in the city very easy. I’ve
stumbled across many charming new neighborhoods and interesting acts of
graffiti while pedaling away.
With Erin gone, I get the hammock to myself and have been eating a
variety of grilled meats and simple greens. Little in the way of laundry
or unnecessary cleaning has been done.
Botanical Gardens
5 April 2015 Melbourne, Vic
The city is a ghost town. It is Easter weekend, a national holiday,
and it would appear that most of our neighborhood and a fair bit of the
city are off for a final summer’s weekend someplace else.
That included the shop owners and retail clerks. As everything was
closed up tight, we walked to the Royal Botanic Gardens which are
open every day free of charge. The Gardens were established in 1846 on a
swampy site near the Yarra River. As the city expanded around the
gardens, the 38 hectares, (or 93 acres if you constantly forget what a
hectare is like I do), remained, and continued to develop into the
verdant treasure it is today.
[Erin] Since moving to Australia, I learned that there are over 700
different species of Eucalyptus, and since I can only make up so many
Latin names before Andy starts to get suspicious, I figured I should
start learning the 690 I don’t currently know. I didn’t make much of a
dent in this quest for knowledge, but it was a wonderful way to spend
our first Easter day in the middle of Fall.
Grampians National Park
6-7 April 2015 Halls Gap, Vic
To broaden our knowledge of our new State of Victoria, we embarked a
quick two-day trip out for some bushwalking in the Grampians
National Park. The Grampians Mountain Range, or Gariwerd as known to
the local Aboriginals, is a photogenic sandstone range that runs
north-south cutting through the Victorian plains. The park is about 160
miles west of Melbourne, rising up from the surrounding farmlands like a
shark’s fine in the water.
We set out early Monday morning in our little rental car with two
goals: 1) To keep to the left side of the road; and 2) To see some
kangaroos in their natural habitat. We reached the small town of Halls
Gap at the base of the National Park in the mid-morning. The weather was
very Pacific Northwest-y, but we braved the windy and overcast
conditions to spend the better part of the day exploring waterfalls,
lookouts and canyons. That afternoon as we drove back through Halls Gap
on the way to our hotel, we realized that there were dozens of kangaroos
scattered in every field we passed. Since moving to Australia, we went
from a kangaroo count of zero to over three hundred in one day.
On Tuesday morning we left the Grampians Motel early in order
to ensure a parking spot as we undertook one of the parks more popular
hikes, The
Pinnacle. We needn’t have worried, as it was lightly showering and
extremely windy we were the only car at the trailhead both when we
arrived and left. The solitude coupled with the dramatic weather made
the summit of The Pinnacle eerie, and even though we didn’t get the
sweeping views that hike normally promises, it was well worth the
scramble.
Fall and Footy
16-18 April 2015 Melbourne, Vic
Fall is definitely here, as the non-indigenous, deciduous trees are
all beginning to drop their leaves. After a lifetime in the Northern
Hemisphere, it is really hard to condition yourself to think of April as
being fall. We’ve both continually been referring to the upcoming months
as ‘summer’, though they’ll be anything but as our local friends are
keen to remind us. People here have assured us that it will get cold; we
just are not quite sure how much we trust the judgement of those who
grew up places like Sydney and Brisbane when it comes to defining cold.
I guess we’ll find out soon enough. While we wait, we are enjoying the
cooler weather by cycling and walking about the city.
Like in the States, the end of summer means the start of the football
season. Australian Rules Football
(AFL) starts around April 1st each year and plays games every
weekend for 23 weeks. We’ve watched a bit of it on the ‘telly’
(Australians abbreviate any and everything with more than 3 syllables)
and can tell you that, while Football is an appropriate name in some
sense, it is nothing similar to the NFL. It is more like an adult game
of tag mixed with kickball and soccer. We’ve been assured attending
games is good fun…so we decided we’d try it.
When we first moved here, the second thing everyone asks you (after
where you are living) is which AFL team you support. There are 18 teams
in total, 10 of which are from the Greater Melbourne area (and Geelong).
AFL used to be a Melbourne-only sport – then call the Victorian Football
League – but had gone national in the past few decades. Teams are based
in the various suburbs and larger neighborhoods of the city. It seems
that fans generally cheer for the team near where they grew up, but not
always. Living in South Melbourne, our neighborhood team had left to
become the Sydney Swans
some time ago, so we had no obvious choice for a team. The nearest teams
to us are St. Kilda (4-19 last
year) and the downtown team, Melbourne (lacking in ‘spirit’, we’ve been
told). Neither of those seemed very appealing. The next closest are the
North Melbourne Kangaroos. They had a home game this Saturday at 7pm, so
we decided to see if this squad might be worth our affection.
The ‘Roos started out slow and quickly fell behind 15-6 in the first
quarter. One of the first things you realize when at the game is how
much the local fan base contests every single foul call (or non-call) by
the officials – the seven spritely young men running around in bright
yellow. They especially hate it when there is a missed ’holding the
ball’ call on the other team. Apparently (and we are still figuring this
out) if you had a chance to pass or kick the ball, but didn’t and then
you get tackled it is a turnover to the other team. It is a very
subjective call, and happens quite often. When it happens to the other
team, the entire crowd yells something that sounds like
‘hhmmggbbbaaalllll’. Just imagine stuffing a complete hot dog and bun
into your mouth and then yelling “Ball” at the top of your lungs….every
2-3 minutes. It is, as we were promised, good fun. Erin’s favourite
penalty was ‘holding the man’, which she like to suggest was occurring
more than it really was. The scoring of the game is simple, the
strategies pretty straightforward, but the foul calling still remains a
bit of a mystery.
We also had the luxury of sitting near a super-fan. You know, the kind
of guy who has a personal, and very loud conversation which each player.
“Oh, Benny, I told you to kick the ball”. “Dammit, George, ***** tackle
that bastard”, etc. This too was good fun. Sadly, our team lost 113-105,
giving up the deciding goal in the final 2 minutes. The Kangaroos showed
some heart. Their ball-handling was suspect, but they did come on strong
in the second half, have a great mascot and a 6’8” (201 cm) guy who
looks exactly like CarrotTop so there is good chance they’ll become our
team.
Farm Life
1-3 May 2015 Ballarat, Vic
This weekend we were invited out to visit our friends Brooke and
Steve who are ‘farmsitting’ for a month out in the country. The farm is
just outside of the town of Ballarat and although it seemed a world away
from the city, it only took about an hour’s drive when we left midday
Friday.
After an obligatory tour of the farm, we drove into Ballarat to
supplement our meager provisions. Prior to the first gold strike,
Ballarat was a humble sheep station, but it quickly turned into a major
settlement in the 1850’s during the Victorian Gold
Rush. Food and drink secured, we toured the city first via car, then
opting to stretch our legs with a walk around Lake Wendouree, site of
the 1956 Olympic Rowing events.
An afternoon of more drinking than eating led a late night game of
Australian Trivial Pursuit with all of use falling asleep to chorus of
frogs that sounded like chiming cell phones. We spent a lazy Saturday
morning of exploring the farm and the surrounding bush. Steve led us on
a bushwalk through huge Eucalyptus groves and farm fields where we
sighted a smattering of wallabies, kangaroos and parrots. Responsible
for the maintenance of the farm, we checked for eggs, brought water for
the sheep, and threw treats for the pet magpie all the while Erin
pointedly avoided the llamas and alpacas, (still traumatized from those
llamas at Natalie Roush’s farm). Animals fed, we then tended to our own
hunger by gathering Meyer lemons from the trees, cutting home grown
squash, and enjoying fresh Eucalyptus blossom honey from the neighboring
farm. Foraging has never felt so successful.
The main event of Saturday was a pilgrimage to a nearby town of
Clunes for the annual ‘booksale’. This booksale is actually a huge
event, especially for a town just slightly larger than our home towns of
Navarino (WI) and Lopez Village
(WA). The Clunes
Booktown Festival closes down the town’s main street for cars and
opens it up for book stalls, food trucks, live music and more book
stalls. The shops along the main street are opened up as temporary
bookstalls and book traders from all around set up shop for the weekend.
As a group of book-nerds, this was our Mecca. We headed out on our own
for the afternoon and each found ourselves elbow-deep, pawing through
hundreds, thousands of books. Erin held herself to only three books, two
on the local botany and biology and the last an old children’s book, an
illustrated account of the discovery, exploration and colonization of
Australia. As we both know very little of our new country, it pays to
start from the beginning.
About the time we returned back to the farm and starting preparing
for a dinner Aussie style (which really just means double the amount of
food any normal feast might have), the power went out. Our new friend
Ellen came by from a neighboring farm, (also without power) and so we
all settled in for a night in the dark and went about re-imagining a
dinner where everything could be made on the gas grill outside. We
grilled Lamb, Chicken and steak, potatoes and every vegetable we could
find in the fridge or garden (found via torch (flashlight)). The power
came on as we had finally amassed enough candles to light up the table
and we sat down to enjoy our efforts. Dessert was apples filled with
dates, brown sugar and sultanas (raisins) and baked in tinfoil…the oven
coming back to life just in time.
In the morning, we collected more bounty from the farm to take home
with us and went on another bushwalk to soak in the smells of the
eucalyptus grove. Brooke and Steve dropped us off at the train station
in Ballarat and we headed back into Melbourne after a satisfying weekend
in the decidely less cosmopolitan side of Victoria.
A Day of Culture
10 May 2015 Melbourne, Vic
[Erin] Our well-laid plans to hike in the mountains east of the city
were dashed due to storms. We pivoted and instead embarked on an urban
hike to try to get to know our city a little better. Andy kept on
calling this a ‘Day of Culture’ but since I am writing this blog post, I
will note that a ‘Day of walking really far’ would have been just as
apt. From our home in Albert Park, we trekked first to the National Gallery of Victoria, a
wonderful and yet free gallery with art from around the world.
Although I loved the Nordic art / furniture exhibit and the
Mesoamerica art, my favorite would have to be a piece called ‘The Island
Bird’ by Ernesto Neto. It was part Swiss Family Robinson tree house part
hammock meets Chuck E. Cheese ball tank. I am sure the artist would be
horrified seeing this description but I thought it was amazing. After I
doubled checked with the attendant that yes, you can walk around in this
giant hanging bird nest in a gallery, I bounced around until Andy got
antsy and then bounced around a little more. (I obviously bounced as
respectively as one can bounce being that I was in a national
gallery)
We left the gallery, crossed the Yarra river, and walked through Federation Square, a large mixed use
development adjacent to Flinders
Station, built over the rail lines. Although the modern design was
hotly contested when proposed in 1997, (especially considering the
historic character of the surrounding context), I love the buildings and
series of open spaces that are built today. By way of the Melbourne CBD
(Central Business District), we moved on to the next destination, Cook’s
Cottage in Fitzroy Gardens. Cook’s Cottage
is purportedly the oldest building in Australia, as it was actually
constructed in Yorkshire, England by Captain Cook’s parents in 1755,
before being dismantled brick by brick, shipped and reconstructed in the
middle of a downtown Melbourne park in 1935.
We continued on from the cottage and towards the Richmond
neighborhood a couple miles away. I am in search for the best Bibimbap,
a Korean rice dish, and I had scouted out a tiny shop called Seoul
Soul for a lunchtime stop. For those not obsessed with the dish,
Bibimbap is a staple Korean dish usually some variation of rice, sautéed
and seasoned vegetables, chili and sesame sauce, grilled meat with an
egg on top. Mixed all together, this is one of my favorite foods and the
Seoul Soul Bibimbap served in a hot stone pot, (everything is better
with a little sizzle), was perfect.
From the largely Vietnamese neighborhood, we walked to the hipster
central neighborhood of Fitzroy. On the way we stopped in Collingwood at
a small Japanese café/shop Mina-no-ie, for afternoon tea and coffee.
While I was delighted with my coffee and opportunity to peruse tiny and
well-designed crafts from the shop, Andy somehow ended up ordering the
same type of odd barley/green tea he hated so much in Japan.
We ended our adventure a while later in Fitzroy and took the tram all
the way home. All in all, we walked well over 10 miles today through our
fine city. (10 miles sounds much more impressive in kilometers, about 16
km)
Sunshine Coast
23 May 2015 Alexandra Headlands, Vic
As an early birthday present, Erin planned a short trip for us to
Noosa and the Sunshine
Coast – a set of beachfront communities about an hour north of
Brisbane. We caught a Thursday afternoon flight out of Melbourne, which
was quite bumpy due to the developing thunderstorms along coast. As we
approached the landing, our pilots hit the gas and pulled out of it a
few moments before impact and then circled around and landed in the
other direction. I think everyone on board was relieved when we finally
touched down. No explanation for our little stunt episode was given.
We would be spending the first two nights in a condo along Alexandra
Headlands Beach (right between Mooloolaba and Maroochydore) before
heading up to Noosa at the end of the trip. Our taxi driver from the
airport was a serious Queenslander. We were told that “Finding ace
tucker ’round here is a piece of piss. Heaps of feed joints in every
direction. No fossicking for a schooner either, mate.” In English: Our
place of stay was in the vicinity of numerous restaurants and bars. He
also informed us that once a month he and the other cabbies drive a few
hours north to the Bundaberg
Distillery and load the entire boot (trunk) of the car up with rum
to last them the month. Queensland is a strange amalgamation of south
Texas, north Florida and West Virginia.
We did little the first night. Erin was amazed at the incredibly poor
offerings on Australian TV (Volcano starting Tommie Lee Jones and Anne
Heche, Knights of Badassdom staring Steve Zahn and Peter Dinklage, six
cooking shows and one musical game show). The weather was perfect the
next day and we went for a long beach walk, perused some of the area’s
finest ‘op’ shops (goodwill-type stores) and read in the sun. The
evening’s lineup was much improved: Wolf of Wall Street and some live
rugby action. We retired; sunsoaked, exhausted and pleased.
Noosa
25 May 2015 Noosa, Qld
We left our Alexandra Heads accommodation early on the slow bus bound
for Noosa. The trip – cheap and comfortable – follows the windy road all
up the coast. We stopped every kilometer or so to pick up a barefooted
surfer or two along the way. By the time we slowly rolled into downtown
Noosa the bus was packed with surfboards and dreadlocks; though lacking
shoes and shirts.
Noosa
Heads is a very quaint, somewhat high-end beach town tucked in
between a national park and brackish bog. Its beach is north-facing
which makes it an oddity along the eastern coast and, often, much
sunnier and warmer than other east-facing beaches. After stashing our
luggage in a locker we quickly found a frozen yogurt stand. Then off to
the beach for some relaxation. Erin read, Andy played in the waves wary
of the stories of box jellyfish he had heard and then attempted to
nap.
[Andy] To cool down from the relentless Queensland sun, we found an
ice cream stand. Not just any ice cream, but liquid nitrogen cooled ice
cream. They mix the ingredients in front of you and then rapidly cool
it. It is advertised as being smooth as silk. This I can verify. It is
truly a game changer in terms of ice cream. Your town needs a franchise,
trust me.
Our friends Jodie and Paul picked us up shortly thereafter and we
grabbed some beers and headed up to the National Park for sunset. A
civilized nation, open intoxicants are allowed in most places provided
you aren’t being a jackass. Maybe it was the beer on an empty stomach
(or some sort of nitro-ice cream high), but the sunset seemed to last
forever as we watched the surfers take in the last of the days waves.
Afterwards we grabbed a meal and drinks in Noosaville near Jodie’s
parents place. Australia also has this weird (unique) custom were you
can bring your own alcohol to restaurants. No more $40 bottles of wine
at dinner. Simply show up with your favorite $8 bottle of Syrah and
drink the meal away.
On the way home Paul was able to convince driver Jodie to stop at a
gelato stand. Naturally, I had some, thereby completing the ultimate
trifecta of frozen yogurt, ice cream and gelato in the same day. Check
that off the list.
The next morning, we did a long hike at the national park and then I
headed to the airport for an afternoon flight home. Erin stayed on for
another two days to enjoy the beach and the warmth of north east
Australia.
A Long Awaited Delivery
28 May 2015 Albert Park, Vic
After five months at sea – well more like two months at sea and three
months in customs and port storage facilities – our shipment of
household goods finally arrived. And just 72 hours prior to our flights
back to the U.S. for the month of June. The boxes looked like they had
been kicked, dragged and thrown the entire 8,186 miles, but miraculously
nothing, minus a single plate, was broken. The dresser did accumulate
some scars…such is life on the road. Somehow the delivery team did
manage to unload our box spring at the wrong home but it was promptly
brought back the day after.
While Erin cursed our poor labeling of boxes, it turned out to
provide some welcome excitement as one never knew what sort of treasures
would be in any given box. I mean, why wouldn’t you pack three pairs of
socks, excess batteries, a wooden spoon, a lamp and four grocery bags
all inside of a box labelled “Books”? Our sparse domicile quickly became
a cluttered mess.
There were also quite a few WTF moments. As in: Why did we bring
this? The U.S. road atlas. The Russian ushanka (hat). Mostly
empty salt and pepper containers. Hundreds of sheets of loose graph
paper. An entire box of broken pens. Two copies of a North American
plant identification guide. A non-functioning iron. 23 pennies and a
nickel.
Our biggest mistakes, however, were the lamps and kitchen appliances.
Yeah, Australia in its strive to be exotic uses a different wattage (or
is it voltage or ampage?) of electricity, rendering many common items
useless here. After blowing up two light bulbs and tripping our breaker
three times, I just gave up and threw all the lamps in a pile. We now
have a large kitchen mixer whose only functional use is that of an
anchor.
It felt nice to finally have our photographs, winter clothing, sports
equipment, kitchen items and books. Now we’ll need to figure out how to
store all of these things. The best news, however, is that second bed is
here so you can all come visit now….just be advised that you might be
schlepping a lamp or kitchen item back with you.
Winter in Melbourne
27 June 2015 Albert Park, Vic
[Andy] I returned from our hectic U.S. trip to depths of Melbourne
winter. A calm and sunny 55 degrees. As a native of the upper Midwest I
remember late spring/early summer days that weren’t this nice. Yet, a
good portion of the locals took the opportunity to don their North Face
puffy jackets and knit, woolen hats. Perhaps overkill, but I do love the
smell of the wood fireplaces burning in our neighbourhood.
With Erin still in the States, I had five days to myself in the city.
Due to jet lag this mostly meant waking at 3am and continuing the
unpacking that we failed to finish prior to leaving in late May,
followed by afternoons of preparing for my upcoming Asia work trip. In
the wee hours of the morning, I finally got around to putting together
Erin’s 60-pound beach cruiser bicycle (the bane of my existence),
sorting our sporting gear and breaking down the remaining boxes. There
were still some gems to be found – like the baseball signed by my high
school team from my first complete game 20 years ago (for the record,
Weyawega wasn’t very good). Yes, 20 years ago. It is hard to type, let
alone fathom, that fact.
Between packing for my trip and cleaning up the house, I took a walk
to St. Kilda
for one last Anglo meal before the upcoming month of Asian delights. I
gorged on a burger and chips and had to take the tram home on account of
gluttony.
Just five days later, I’ll be back at the international terminal in
Melbourne bound for Hong Kong. See you in month Melbourne!
Melbourne from the Sky
20 July 2015 Melbourne, Vic
[Erin] I flew back to Melbourne on July 8th, prepared to keep myself
busy with work until Andy got back on the 26th. One Cryptolock Virus,
one trans-Pacific voyage for my computer and one panic attack later I
found myself without a laptop, feeling completely un-tethered from
society. The only silver lining of sending my laptop back to the States
for resurrection was that with the package also went the responsibility.
Faced with two weeks without my computer and my husband I decided to
throw myself into as many different things as possible. I took jazz, tap
and hip-hop classes, went to the gym every day and either walked or road
my bike to different parts of the city on mini adventures.
On one of the more sunny winter days, I decided to walk downtown and
take in the views from the deck of Melbourne’s tallest highrise. The Eureka Skydeck is on
floor 88, boasting the title of the “Southern Hemisphere’s highest
viewing platform”.
The electronic voice in the lift assured me that feeling the tower
sway is completely normal and that is was designed to sway 30
centimeters back and forth. Level 88 welcomed me with 360 degrees views
of Melbourne, the surrounding suburbs and mountain ranges beyond. Just
me, a dozen retirees and three hundred ‘schoolies’ enjoyed a blue bird
sky.
From 285 metres up you look over the CBD and along the Yarra River.
For a dense urban downtown, Melbourne has an incredibly expansive system
of open spaces and pedestrian connections. Several pedestrians bridges
lace over the Yarra which on that day looked uncharacteristically and
unfortunately flat and brown. Since it was the first sunny day in a
week, people were out for runs or coffee; tiny confetti from 88 floors
up.
I continued my walk to Federation Square, but instead of stopping at the
festive urban plaza, my destination was the rooftop of the parking
garage. In partnership with Little Veggie Patch Co., the rooftop has
been transformed to the city’s largest community garden. Over 140
individual plots make up the Pop Up Patch and are leased to the public,
including plots for all of the Fed Square restaurants and cafes. Despite
the winter season, the garden was still supporting an incredible variety
of fresh produce and felt like a messy haven in the middle of downtown
life.
Heide Art Museum
22 July 2015 Heidelberg, Vic
[Erin] Earlier this week, on a day that promised to have 0% chance of
rain, I took a bike ride out of town to visit the Heide Museum of Modern Art. A 20
kilometer bike ride from the city, the Heide sits within 15 acres of
parklands. The land was purchased by John and Sunday Reed in 1934. And
what was initially their home of a farm house (Heide I) and kitchen
garden, evolved into a bohemian refuge for young artists and creative
visionaries of the time. With a great appreciation of modern art, John
and Sunday helped to establish the Gallery of Contemporary Art, later
evolving into the Museum of Modern Art of Australia. After they outgrew
the small farmhouse in the mid-1960’s, the Reeds commissioned the
modernist architect David McGlashan to design another house, (Heide II),
or as they envisioned, ‘a gallery to be lived in’. Today, along with the
Reed’s two previous houses Heide I and Heide II, the museum has a new
wing housing revolving exhibits, a café supported by the produce grown
in the two sprawling kitchen gardens and acres of sculpture park. I was
inspired by such early vision in support of grass roots food culture,
literature, architecture and art and fell in love with the museum.
The museum itself was lovely… the bike ride there and back, not so
much. In total, I ended up biking 45 kilometers, 5 of those because I
got lost, the other 40 because I was a little aggressive on my goals for
the day. Most of the ride was on busy city streets where the Aussie
drivers are perhaps aware rules do exist, but nevertheless, decide to
ignore them. In hopes of taking a back-road to get on the main trail
system that runs along the Yarra River and leads to the museum, I found
myself halfway down a freeway on-ramp before wildly aborting off the
ramp into the bush. Only in Australia can you accidentally find yourself
bicycling onto a freeway.
Once I found my way along the Yarra River, I had the trail all to
myself, peaceful and fragrant with blooming Wattle and Eucalyptus trees.
The bike ride home was less enjoyable since the trusty Melbourne weather
report had changed dramatically and started to rain. At least I took
care not to get lost on the way home.
Note to other potential Museum visitors: In order not to look like a
jackass straight off, Heide is an affectionate abbreviation of the
nearby suburb of ‘Heidelberg’ (in my experience, Australian’s love to
shorten all words, or lengthen them if they are already manageably
short). So I would recommend pronouncing ‘Heide’ similarly to the blonde
girl from the Alps, not Hide and Seek, if you don’t want the Museum
patron to throw a considerable amount of shade.
Blind Date
10 August 2015 Frankston, Vic
One perk of moving to a large, international city is that many of our
friends, family and colleagues have connections here in Melbourne. As a
result, from time to time we get set up for, what could only be called,
blind dates. This Sunday was such an occasion. One of Erin’s childhood
friends had studied in New Zealand and knew a girl who happened to be
living in the Melbourne area at the moment. After a few emails and texts
back and forth, we were set to visit them at 2pm on Sunday. They lived
in a suburb (exurb, really) known as Frankston.
When our other friends were informed that we were headed to Frankston
on Sunday, we were met with beguiled looks and subdued excitement,
culminating in comments such as “Well, at least the beach is nice.”
Andy’s trainer at the gym was a bit more up-front (in a classic Aussie
way): “Mate, it’s a bit rough down there.” Undaunted, we boarded the
tram bound for Frankston. Due to construction we had to transfer to a
train and then to a bus; arriving in Frankston 2 hours later.
ASIDE: Australia definitely has some interesting taste sensations
gracing the supermarket shelves. The Frankston Safeway to be especially
good fodder in our on-going search to located the finest (strangest)
local flavours. Today’s finds included Hot Dog flavoured potato chips
(or crisps), the Grapetiser,
a carbonated purple drink and Doritos Roulette (one in seven chips is
especially spicy). We purchased none of these items, but can do so on
request if/when you, dear reader, decide to visit.
As promised, Frankston represented a segment of society rather absent
from our current neighbourhood and much of Melbourne in general. The
area proximate to the train station where we waited for our blind date
to pick us up was especially captivating. Ten minutes in, a man
approached us and asked if we were the Americans waiting for a ride. It
was Damien, the husband of Erin’s friend’s friend. After answering in
the affirmative, he said: “I knew it. You were the only people around
here wearing shoes.” This was quickly followed by: “Are you Mormons?”
When we answered in the negative, he seemed visually relieved and said
“Good, because I feel like having a few beers this afternoon.” This
sounded promising.
A short drive down the highway we arrived at their place which was
very nicely located in the best part of town. Bridie, Damien’s pregnant
wife, greeted us at their home. A very nice lunch was preceded by,
continued through and eventually capped off by adult beverages and good
conversation. Damien, after being diagnosed with gluten intolerance a
few months back, ordered, in his words, ‘a few cases of hard cider’ so
as to still be able to ‘crack a cold one’ from time to time. Upon our
tour of the home we discovered that ‘a few’ meant 200. Cases. His
basement man-cave has over 4,500 bottles of cider waiting to be
consumed. We put, but a small dent in that. The truly sad (funny?) part
of the story is that he was mis-diagnosed and it is actually a fructose
allergy that he has and should not be drinking cider at all.
Bridie drove us all back to the train station and our trip home
commenced. But not without a case of cider to go and a few open
‘roaddies’ for the 30 minute ride back to the Mordialloc station. One of
our best blind dates yet. If invited back, we’ll definitely make the
trip to Frankston again.
Geelong
25 August 2015 Geelong, Vic
[Erin] We each had a busy past week preparing for new adventures;
Andy with baseball tryouts for the Port Melbourne Mariners,
(serendipitously enough our local team), and me with my first teaching
experience at the University. I was hired as a teaching assistant, or a
Tutor as they are referred to here, for a Site Planning and Design
studio through the University of Melbourne Landscape Architecture
program. This first week went really well; however, four hours of
presenting to and working with students reminded me how exhausting
design studios can be. These first few weeks of class I will be leading
the class lecture and workshop based on some of my professional work, so
I will fill you in next weekend in detail.
[Andy] My arm and rest of my body is quite sore. I still take a mean
infield, but struggle with outside pitches. We’ll see how next week’s
practice goes.
[Erin] As it is almost September, I have been feeling the urge to
ease into Fall and buy heaps of apples and make applesauce, or cook
spicy and hearty soups, but instead, I have been greeted with sunny
skies the past few mornings and warm winds out of the north. Melbourne
seems to be inching (or centimetering) out of the winter hibernation
mode, and while the general populace still continues to whinge about the
cold, the days turned warm enough for us to head down to the beach town
of Geelong about an
hour train ride southwest of the Melbourne.
Arriving to the train station early, we stopped along the Yarra River
to get a coffee for me, a beer for Andy and to watch people stroll along
the riverfront promenade. It felt like the first warm-ish day in
Seattle, when everyone is outside, (usually in flip flops and shorts),
and somehow everyone just seems extremely happy. After our train ride to
Geelong, and a walk through downtown, I dragged Andy to another
botanical garden.
The waterfront along Geelong has a series of public art
installations, so we spent the afternoon exploring. While walking
through all of the downtown and looping back along the waterfront
promenade, we continued to come across these ‘pole people’. We saw the
first two in the Botanical Garden, representatives of the Garden’s
founders, but soon realized that there were hundreds scattered around
town. Beach boys, beach girls, policemen, pirates, footy players, mimes
(not pictured here due to mimes being the worst), musicians, colonists,
etc. After much cajoling, I got Andy next to these pole people for a
photo, and a passing older gentlemen commented “that man is taken with
the big surfer girls”. I didn’t take it personally.
We took the train back into the city, and although I often miss the
ease and freedom of having a car, at least on the train we can both look
out the window at our new country… and/or the more likely scenario, both
fall asleep…
Footy Friday
5 September 2015 Melbourne, Vic
Eric arrived today, our first visitor from back home. For his first
full day, we hit up the South Melbourne Market for a lunch of Yum Cha
(Dim Sum), Oysters and Meat Pies. We then took a long, leisurely stroll
into downtown, winding through Melbourne’s famous alleyways, eventually
grabbing a few beers from a small café. There were many choices of
alleyway bars, but we were lured in by the large Italian man who smelled
strongly of coconut and vanilla and who offered us happy hour prices
before happy hour started.
Thirst quenched, we headed to Etihad Stadium for a match between North Melbourne (our adopted AFL
team) and Richmond. As this
was the last week of the season and both teams had made the playoffs,
each side sat many of their starters so we were treated to backups and
rookies running about the field. Not that we’d know the difference as it
all looks confusing to us anyways. By far the highlight of the game were
the three dudes in front of us who never lacked for clever comments and
biting criticism of every and all players on the field.
Great Ocean Road, Day 1
6 September 2015 Apollo Bay, Vic
The offer of a free upgrade at the rental car office is always a good
omen for a road trip. The ‘upgrade’, in this case, meant getting handed
the keys to metallic green Holden
Commodore Sport Edition. If you are anything other than an Aussie or
absolute car wonk, you probably have never heard of Holden. It is an
oft-maligned domestic brand. Think Pontiac not Cadillac. Pulling out of
the Avis garage, strange noises originating in the suspension and
exhaust could be heard, but quickly faded as I accelerated. Hopefully
this steed, this oddly shiny and squeeky steed, would make the trip. On
the bright side, we’d never have an issue finding our vehicle in the
parking lot.
Our first stop on the tour was the world famous Bells
Beach. Immortalized in the cult classic Point Break, we filled the
90-minute drive there with our best Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze quotes.
“Vaya con Dios”, “Utah, get me two”…etc. The wind was fierce and it was
cold, but, as to be expected, there was a surf competition going on at
the time. We gave a few dudes a ‘what’s up brah’ and then quickly and
quietly ducked into our not at all inconspicuous rental car and peaced
out.
Next up was the Split Point Lighthouse. Erin loves lighthouses, but
not enough to wait 90 minutes for the next tour (or pay $9 per person),
so we did a short hike around it, snapped some photos and were on our
way. Lunch was had in Lorne (or ‘lawn’ as the Aussies pronounce it).
Eric was perplexed by the beetroot in his burger, but finished it
nonetheless. Powered by beef, we stopped to hike up to Cumberland Falls.
After a strange beginning where the trail wanders somewhat aimlessly
through a caravan park, we emerged into a grand valley of a small river
that had cut it ways through the local sandstone to create some
impressive vertical relief. As it is spring, the water is high and we
had to perform a safe but not too safe water crossing. A ways further
another crossing was completely overwhelmed and we turned back short of
our goal.
From there we took a drive down Grey River Road, a mountainous gravel
road known locally as a Koala hotspot. Not two kilometers from the
highway we pulled over and saw four of the beasts eating their way
through a set of Manna Gum trees (their preferred food). Many animals
look clean and decent in zoos and photos but end up quite dirty and
disgusting in their natural habitat. Koalas are not. They look just like
stuffed animals crawling around (well mostly sleeping) in the canopy.
And they are bigger than we expected.
After settling into our lodging in Apollo Bay, we climbed a nearby
hill to watch the sun go down over the great southern ocean. Well, two
of us did. Erin was too concern with a nearby lamb that had become
separated from its flock to enjoy the beauty mother nature had bestowed
on us. A majority vote won out, and we did not take the young lamb home
with us, nor physically carry it across the valley to the nearest
congregation of its species. Dinner was Chinese takeout, perhaps an odd
choice for rural Australia.
Great Ocean Road, Day 2
7 September 2015 Warrnambool, Vic
[Erin] We began day 2 of our Great Ocean Road trip in
search of more koalas. Slow and seemingly high, these marsupials are 70%
shanks, 20% ears and 100% adorable. My maths don’t add up, but the
description should at least give you an overall understanding of the
koala bear cuteness. We understood the ‘bear’ descriptor after seeing
these little guys in action (or inaction), but I would probably
characterize them as part Ewok, part hamster.
With a few tips from seasoned travelers and some shear dumb luck, we
ended up in the middle of several koala forests over the weekend.
Oftentimes we saw a few koalas in a single tree, which is most likely a
sign of overpopulation in selected forests, but we weren’t
complaining.
The main act of our road trip adventure and one of the biggest
attractions in the State of Victoria was the next stop along the coast.
The majesty and scale of the 12 Apostles is difficult to capture and so
dramatic that any description is inadequate. That being said, with the
wind snapping at our faces and a storm threatening from the southwest,
it was a place I wish I could visit every day simply to be reminded of
my own insignificance.
Further along the coast we hiked down into the protected gorge cove
of Loch
Ard. Tucked in along the aptly nicknamed ‘Shipwreck Coast’, this
gorge was named after an English ship that wrecked off the reef in 1878.
Of the fifty four passengers and crew, only Tom Pearce and Eva
Carmichael survived the wreck. Tom rescued Ava, dragged her to shore,
and revived her with a case of brandy that had also washed into the
small cave where they had taken shelter. Tom received a hero’s welcome
in his new country and the local villagers closely followed the story of
the survivors. Apparently, many felt that Tom should have proposed to
Eva - given they had spent an evening together unsupervised in the cave
and had drunk brandy to keep warm, the backbone of all lasting
relationships…We stopped at the shipwreck cemetery to pay our respects
and then continued hiking along the coastline.
We finished our day in the town of Warrnambool, a seaside
town boasting a rich maritime history and a calving bay for Southern
Right Whales. Since we were arriving near the end of calving season, we
didn’t have high expectations to actually spot any whales, but before
the sun set, we hustled out to one of the whale lookouts perched along
the sea. Running beneath our platform, a ribbon of beach spooled out to
each side and in front of us the water was clear enough to see the large
dark shadow weave among the brave surfers. The large whale we saw,
seemed to do a few lazy sweeps parallel to the beach, with a few mellow
breaches and rolls on its back.
With Eric as our first guest, we are relishing the position of being
tourists again.
Heide Sculpture Garden
10 September 2015 Bulleen, Vic
Eric and Erin ventured out to the Heide Museum of Modern Art for a
late lunch in the museum’s café and then toured the massive sculpture
garden discussing which pieces we liked best. After hearing “I could
make that” one too many times from Eric, they both settled on the airy
and geometric volume create out of welded rebar as the top installation.
(Theoretical
Matter by Neil Taylor)
Erin’s favorite part about the entire place was a small commissioned
garden near the original house (Heide I), called the Wild Garden. Hidden
paths and tucked away places to sit, it felt undersigned and magical.
Eric also enjoyed it but was ultimately more interested in the nearby
avian battle between an eagle-sized white parrot and 3 crows.
Mornington Day Trip
12 September 2015 Portsea, Vic
The weather called for 0% chance of rain so we decided to drive down
to the Mornington Peninsula for the day. Naturally it started raining on
us as we reached our first stop at the Cranbourne Royal
Botanical Gardens. These gardens were magnificent. We can only
imagine that the designers that got to work on this job were in heaven.
Within the featured Australian Garden, there were twenty or so
individual exhibition gardens highlighting the varied Australian plant
communities. Erin took hundreds fewer pictures than she would have liked
and tried to keep up with Andy and Eric.
The weather cleared up as we reached the seaside town of Sorrento
where we stopped for lunch. Sorrento has
a mellow downtown with a lazy summer vacation feel. Since all of the
views look like the below photos it is likely that everyone who lives
here is actually staying at their second or third home, so we could
actually be correct about the vacation vibe. We ate at a café called
Cakes & Ale, and although we sampled neither of their namesake
edibles, we were all extremely satisfied with our orders.
At the end of the road, we arrived at Point
Nepean National Park and we started our hike along a new track that
we hadn’t previously explored. Previously a military base, the park is
part historical site, part ecological preserve. Left to be covered by
sand and taken over by native vegetation after WWII, the military
bunkers and tunnels were carefully excavated in 1988 when the point was
designated a National Park. The bunkers, barracks and gun emplacements
were built into the sandy slopes of Point Nepean which made for hours of
exploring. After hiking out to the Fort at the end of the point, we
followed each hidden tunnel and staircase before returning back.
Heading back to the city just before sunset, we stopped at a
viewpoint that looked back over the peninsula that we had spent the day
exploring. Instead of marveling at the sunset, we ended up spending most
of our time taking pictures of the huge pack of kangaroos that were
grazing in the park. Most of the kangaroos paid no attention to us
excitable tourists, but one overly large and aggressive male kept an eye
on us the entire time, making kangaroo grunt noises and seemingly trying
to outflank us on our path back to the car. We tactfully took our leave
in order to avoid a confrontation.
And they are off…
14 September 2015 Flemington, Vic
Horse racing in Victoria still maintains a measure of cultural and
social importance. Or, in other words, still offers members of polite
society a chance to dress up and remind themselves that they are still
members of polite society. The horses themselves are a bit of an
afterthought. Being two immigrants and a tourist, we first checked the
style guide – no jodhpurs, cravats, safari suits, leggings worn as
pants, pants tucked into socks, anoraks(?), beanies, midriff, playsuits,
scuffs, gumboots, Drizabone jackets or dilapidated footwear – put on our
Saturday bests and made our way to Flemington Racecourse. NOTE: Foreign
visitors are allowed to wear the “formal national dress of their
country”…for Americans would that be an NFL jersey and sweatpants?
Dressed ‘smartly’, we arrived and errantly entered the Victoria
Racing Club (VRC) Members-Only area. Lacking any Rolex or Botox, it was
obvious we were in the wrong place. After a bit of confusion and a
discussion with an equally confused Lithuanian security guard we found
our way to the General Admission section. Down two escalators and up a
set of stairs to find our people. Well, mostly hardened track
degenerates waving yellowed racing forums and about six dozen buck and
hen (bachelor/bachelorette) parties. The lawn area in front was littered
with families who had staked various claims and spread out with
veritable buffets of food and drink. All carry-ins (except alcohol) are
allowed, though security was so lax we probably could have rolled in
with a keg of beer strapped to the back of an elephant and no one would
have said a word (such is Australia’s adherence to the established
rules).
The middle (and best) seats in the grandstand are reserved for the
VRC; we plebs were relegated to the aforementioned lawn or an area to
the right of the grandstand near the finish line. All in all, not bad
seats. To the very far right (and out of sight of the grandstand) is the
VRC wine garden - an area where the 20-something sons and daughters of
the VRC members can properly misbehave beyond the watchful eye of mum
and dad. I assume, by no mere coincidence, the general admission area is
located between these two pillars of rot and mirth. We had the joy of
watching down-on-their luck young socialites traversing back and forth
to replenish their coin purses from the family vault (or maybe just to
use the toilets, hard to say). All said, the track is a scene that can
be enjoyed by all walks of life. The gorgeous day and Melbourne skyline
in the backdrop merely add to the experience.
By some miracle we all ended up ahead on the day. Erin by notching
small victories with solid horses, Eric by meticulously analyzing his
racing forum and Andy by hitting big on a long shot exacta box. Granted,
our wins were small and certainly not enough to cover the train fare and
a round of beers, but winning is winning. Our victorious day was made
only more so by scoring the last available table at Hutong Dumpling House on the way home.
Arguably, the best dumplings in the city.
Last Hurrah (for Eric)
16 September 2015 Halls Gap, Vic
Eric’s time with us was quickly coming to an end. A successful first
time for us hosting a fellow Yank. With the glorious spring weather, we
snuck in one last little trip – a one night excursion to the Grampians –
before Eric was set to return to America. We had been to the
Grampians previously but still had plenty to explore.
We arrived in the afternoon and took the long, windy road up to the
lookout at Mount William. While the views were worth the time, the most
memorable part of this drive was listening to the Footy game on the
radio. One of the commentators was absolutely ‘mad’ and made no attempt
to hide his preferred team, the absolute rottenness of the opponents and
the lack of brain cells possessed by the officiating crew. He was an old
chap, thick accent, a true Aussie bloke. You could practically taste the
Carlton Draught he most
certainly had been drinking and was likely spilling down the front of
his shirt (no sleeves) as he gesticulated wildly. This is how footy
ought to be experienced.
We retired to the Grampians Motel, our favorite, uncomfortable place
to stay in the park. We arose early – well as early as Eric would let us
– did another rock scramble up a local peak and then made haste back to
Melbs. Eric flew out the next day; the nearly two weeks went by quickly.
Much was seen with nearly all the major dining destinations checked off
of our big list. We eagerly await our next visitor(s).
Perth, then North
3-4 October 2015 Perth(ish), Western Australia
While this West Coast trip was meant to get us out of the city, we
felt it would have been unfair to entirely skip out on seeing the urban
delights of Perth. As such, we dedicated a morning to a small walkabout
in the central city. It is a nice city, complete with multiple
pedestrian zones, flashy new buildings and all the requisite retail
chains, high end restaurants and tourist shops. And when we say ‘nice’,
we are hinting at ‘ordinary’. Which is alright, because the natural
surrounds and the weather are what really shine here. As part of our
wandering we explored the famous Kings Park with its views of downtown,
the Swan River waterfront and even managed to find a trendy renovated
garage restaurant for a decent breakfast. (Note: Hip restaurants in
Australia must, by law, serve bircher, poached eggs, hand-made chutney,
smashed ‘avo’(cado) on toast and regular pork sausages referred to by a
foreign word meaning ‘tube of meat’).
Urban experience complete, the next day we headed north up the Great
Indian Ocean Road to check a few more Australian national parks off of
our list. En route, and with great merriment, we spotted a number of
feral emus galloping (?) across the scrub bush plains. Many kangaroos
dotted the landscape, as did one lone (and invasive) red fox. Finally,
to take in more wildlife, we stopped at Lake
Thetis, home to one of the world’s only blistering bacteria mats
(stromatolites)…a true family attraction.
Content with our dosage of fauna, we spent the remainder of the day
looking at plants, rocks and sand.
Stop 1: Pinnacles
Desert, Namburg National Park. The Pinnacles Desert is a small, but
rewarding, stop whereby one can drive and hike through thousands of
small pinnacles now exposed by the drifting sand dunes of the area. They
are no more than a few metres tall, but the sheer number of them gives
the area an eerily feeling. As it was still early (we are early risers),
the park was mostly empty, so we were able to run and bound through the
area at our leisure. Erin peed behind a pinnacle. Otherwise, we left no
trace except footprints that would be quickly blown over. The sand here
was coarse and orange in colour.
Stop 2: Leseuer
National Park. Next, we continued north to the wildflower capital of
Western Australia. Andy is not one much for wildflowers, but even he
agreed that this park was rather enjoyable. In any given 10 square
meters there are upwards of 80 different species, all of which were
flowering during our visit. If you happen to ever find yourself 250 km
north of Perth in early October it is definitely worth the stop.
Stop 3: Random sand dune on the side of the road. Finally, on the way
home we pulled off the road next to a large, exposed and perfectly white
sand dune to do a bit of exploring. Dark clouds were gathering, giving
the area a surreal contrast of colours and shades. The sand here was
white and ulta-fine and felt like running through the largest imaginable
pile of flour. Remnants of the cardboard sleds that others had used to
descend the dunes littered some of the low points between dunes. Being
good citizens, we commented on the shame of the previous litterers,
enjoyed our moral superiority for a moment and then left them there for
future dune sledders.
Rotto
4 October 2015 Rottnest Island, Western Australia
While most of Australia was making its way to Melbourne to watch the
Australian Football League Grand Finals, (the Aussie Superbowl), we were
happily tucked into our small AirBnB in Fremantle, a suburb of Perth.
After an evening of exploring town we booked morning tickets on the boat
to Rottnest Island (or
more commonly, Rotto, as is the Aussie custom of shortening all words
and adding an ‘o’).
The small island (only 14K in length) received its lovely name from
the first European visitors to land on the island. Mistaking the native
marsupials that colonized the island for rats, the Dutch sailors called
the island ‘Rotte nest’, remarking that the island was overrun by “rats
as big as a common cat”. Quokkas, as the original
Aboriginal inhabitants named them, are small marsupials that have become
a major tourist draw since Rotto is one of the few areas in the world
where the quokka can be found. With the butt of a large rabbit and the
head of a guinea pig, they laze around the island in the shade, trying
to the ignore masses of eager tourists who have made it their mission to
get an oddly on-trend quokka selfie.
After the initial European and minor settlement, the island was
converted to an Aboriginal prison and later during WWI and WWII
temporarily used as a military base. In perhaps one of the most
unexpected transitions possible, in the early 1900’s, the government
decided to transform the former penal colony into a holiday resort
destination. With this kind of weird-ass history and unique natural
environment, we thought it was a perfect day trip adventure.
The island is a short ferry ride from the city and vehicles are not
permitted on the island, so we rented a few bicycles and spent the
remainder of the day circumnavigating the island. We rode all the way
out to the west end of the island to search for whales and sea lions,
but had to be satisfied with the dozens of King skinks we almost ran
over with our bikes. We also came across our first poisonous snake in
this so-called lethal land. There were plenty of signs warning us of the
highly poisonous Dugite snake, so we were a little wary of hiking off
trail. Luckily it was on the road and easy to spot, (and swiftly
outmaneuver if need be). Erin really wanted a picture and suggested
poking at it with a stick, but Andy vetoed that super fun idea. (Imagine
a creepy snake photograph here).
Since we had biked to the most remote area on the island, and we
caught the red eye ferry to the island, (shocking, I know), we rarely
ran into any other visitors and felt like we had the island all to
ourselves. Twelve amazing beach coves, two lighthouses, a handful of
wayfinding mishaps and sixteen miles later we made our way back to the
ferry for the boat ride back to the mainland.
The Race that Stops a Nation
4 November 2015 Melbourne, Victoria
Tuesday was Melbourne Cup
Day. It is the biggest race day of the 8-day Spring Carnival and a
public holiday for all, except us lowly University employees. This may
seem a bit excessive for a horse race, but this is a country where
gambling is as much of the national ethos as surfing, meat pies and
Steve Irwin. The university even had sanctioned (and highly encouraged)
wagering on the race. In truth, it is also a good reason to engage in
day drinking on a random Tuesday in spring. Hard to argue with that.
We were very close to scoring some members-only tickets to Flemington
Racecourse on the big day, but ended up settling for a lower-class (and
lower cost) affair by joining the plebian masses to watch it on the big
screen at Federation Square. As 3pm approached, the place filled with
anxious punters (gamblers), onlookers and others too cheap or busy to
spend the entire day drinking champagne at the race track.
At 3:02 the gates opened and for the next three and half minutes the
crowd was transfixed as a pack of 24 horses circled the track. It is
quite hard to tell what is going on and the screen only showed the top
three, so for the first three minutes or so everyone is lulled into
complacency and the re-filling of wine glasses. Over the last 500
meters, the field opened up and the horses made their final push. The
longest shot in the field, Prince
of Penzance (started the day at 101:1 odds) pushed to the front and
won by a length. One very excited gambler erupted in absolute joy down
near the front; the odds were good and he must have made a small
fortune. It should be noted that this was also the first time a female
jockey, Michelle
Payne, had won the Cup.
As Andy rode home from the University around 6pm later that evening
the city was full of well-dressed and completely drunk people. It was
probably the most dangerous biking experienced he had here to date with
pedestrians stumbling out into the streets and bike lanes. Not bad for a
Tuesday.
Things I’m Loving about Melbourne
17 November 2015 Melbourne, Victoria
ART & DESIGN EVERYWHERE
From government commissioned graffiti to land sculptures to temporary
installations, this city supports art that will amaze you and engage
you. Also, I’m pretty sure it is someone’s full time job to cover our
neighborhood sidewalks with cheery chalk drawings.
“IT’S ANDY’S SHOUT”
Instead of saying I will get your drink, or so-and-so is buying us
beers, etc. here, you use the phrase, “it’s (insert name here)’s shout”.
I love it so much. I go out of my way to ask if things are my shout, or
feel extremely pleased when I can naturally fit it into a sentence with
locals.
Speaking of drinks, the portions and names are different here.
Different than the States, but also, it seems different bar to bar. A
pint, a schooner, a pot and a jug are the usual suspects, but I am never
really sure what name applies to what size. The first time I asked for
clarification, the bartender answered me, (naturally), in millilitres,
which I still hadn’t really worked out, but wasn’t going to admit to, so
I just asked for a pint and looked it up later. When I finally thought I
had it down, we went to Perth in Western Australia, and apparently there
is a completely separate naming system there, and so I just asked for a
pint and figured I would drink whatever was placed in front of me. As
writing this, I have doubled checked and they are as follows:
Jug – 40 oz)
Pint – 20 oz (Although some places serve an Imperial Pint which is
16 oz.)
Schooner/Middy –15 oz
Pot – 10 oz
Glass – 7 oz
When in doubt, ask for a pint.
SPRING
I love that the flower shops have in-season peonies and sweet pea
blossoms in November. Instead of buying gourds at the market, I am
buying cherries, a sun hat instead of a rain jacket. The other day I
excitedly pointed out to Andy that my tiny backyard garden had produced
its inaugural flower, his comment was “I thought that was a piece of
paper stuck in that tree”. So perhaps not everyone is as enchanted with
Spring’s riches as I am.
A STRONG WIND
Normally this wouldn’t be on my list of favorites, but my run along
the waterfront is far more entertaining when I am in the good company of
sailboats, kiteboards and parachutes.
To a Lighthouse in the Rain
25 November 2015 Wilsons Promontory, Victoria
The spring weather had been fantastic, unseasonably so. As a result,
we decided to roll the dice and spend a weekend at Wilson’s
Promontory National Park (aka ‘The Prom’). About three hours
southeast of Melbourne, the park is renowned for its natural beauty,
abundant hiking trails and foul weather. The latter is due in large part
to fact that the park lies in the Bass Strait, the
treacherous body of water – now lain with shipwrecks – that separates
Tasmania from the mainland. The week leading up to our trip it was
perfectly clear and sunny at The Prom. That, of course, was due to
change.
We left Melbourne early and chased a fantastic thunderstorm all the
way down to the park. We tried to wait out the rain, but eventually just
decided to suck it up and test our mettle. Not everyone was happy with
this decision…but moods did improve.
It rained for the first three hours (15km) of our hike. We rarely
slowed down, for fear of losing motivation. After one quick stop for a
bite to eat, Andy managed to attract a small hitch-hiking leech on my
neck. Erin enjoyed this occurrence too much for his liking. As we
rounded the final corner and headed for our lighthouse lodging, it did
finally let up enough for us to take a few photos. 5km later (20km in
total), we arrived wet, tired, hungry, but rejuvenated by the beauty of
our surrounds. Our shared bunk room turned out to be a single room for
just us two. Win. Four of the others sharing our bunkhouse were quite
loud and obnoxious, but despite the constant din sleep came easy due to
the long day on our feet. After a brief rest, we found the energy to
sneak in a lighthouse tour and a dehydrated food dinner with a sunset
view prior to our much needed sleep. The wind howled all night, shaking
the windows and rattling the doors. The keeper said this was an average
spring day at the lighthouse. I can only imagine what it is like during
a winter storm. Also, sleeping in the top bunk as an adult is highly
underrated.
From a Lighthouse in the Sun
26 November 2015 Wilsons Promontory, Victoria
Our morning at the lighthouse brought continued wind, but the sun did
poke through the clouds. We fought through stiff legs and backs and were
the first group out the door. After a light breakfast, some heavy
stretching and one final look around the complex we were off.
One of the great things about this trek is that it is a loop for the
most of the later half, so we would not be retracing our steps from
yesterday. No, we would be going the long way home (an extra 4km). The
extra distance proved to be certainly worth it as the stop at Waterloo
Bay was wonderful. We were the only people on a 3 mile long,
perfectly white sand beach. Protected from the wind and in full sun it
was hard to believe that yesterday we had been chilled to the bone by
wind and rain just an hours walk from this very spot.
Leaving the beach, we hiked up and over a small pass by the Mussolini
Rocks and then the long climb back up the parking lot. All said the
42km, two-day trip wasn’t as hard as we had expected, but were both
relieved to take off our shoes and relax in the rental car’s comfy
seats. That evening we set up camp at the Tidal
River campground just down the road. Exhausted, we delayed sleep for
a few hours in lieu of a well-deserved ice cream treat and a small
wombat-spotting side trip (three wombats sighted).
The following morning we woke with the surfers to pack up camp,
secretly wishing we had our neighbor’s fragrant bacon breakfast rather
than our own trail mix. With a quick stop to clamber around on the
lichen-covered monoliths at Squeaky Beach, we left the Prom with
intentions to return.
Thanksgiving in OZ
30 November 2015 Albert Park, Victoria
[Erin] I write this blog post partly to share our Australian
Thanksgiving experience, and partly as a reminder for next year when I
will undoubtedly think about making another Thanksgiving feast by
myself.
For our first Thanksgiving in Oz, we had invited our good friends
Jodie and Paul over to introduce them to the holiday. Heavy on ambition,
light on reason, I sketched out the planned menu to help wrap my head
around the grocery list/level of insanity.
During the three days of preparation, I dearly missed my mixer and
food processor, cursing voltage differences while hand-whisking cream,
chopping ginger nut cookies into a crumble for my cheesecake, and
cutting butter into my tart dough with a pastry scraper. I had some
seasonal and cultural disconnects as well, the only cranberries I could
find for my chutney were frozen, they apparently don’t have canned
pureed pumpkin in this country and our oven is the size of a small gas
can. Excuse me, petrol can.
I tried to tell myself that scratch cooking would bring me much more
personal satisfaction, but when I was pureeing fresh pumpkin in our
shitty blender at midnight, I wanted to break up with Australia, or at
least Thanksgiving. I felt better the following morning, when I awoke to
my first sunny and hot Thanksgiving day.
When the weather cooled down enough to eat a hot meal, we sat down to
our feast at our classy dining table, (tiny IKEA picnic table), and
encouraged our guests to eat way too much, as is the custom…
On Saturday, we joined up with some other expat friends and
celebrated with a big Thanksgiving BBQ at a local park. About thirty of
us gathered, mostly from the States and Canada, but also
friends-of-friends from Chile, Germany, India and Bulgaria. We had
everything from traditional stuffing to homemade Paneer; a truly diverse
spread. We brought meat to grill and a roasted peach tart. Forgetting
that this was summer Thanksgiving and my mascarpone-based tart would
immediately melt if left out for more than ten minutes, (amateur move),
we happily ate the tart with the meat course.
We tossed the football around in the nearby Cricket field, whinged
about the things that annoyed us in Australia and marveled about what we
loved, all agreeing we loved far more than we didn’t…
It was comforting to come together with a community of Thanksgiving
orphans, and it took away the sting of missing family and traditions
from home, at least a little bit.
Morningside Farm
13 December 2015 Nagambie, Victoria
To outsiders, Australia is often advertised as a land of beaches and
deserts, koalas and kangaroos, sparkling harbours, poisonous spiders and
beer-swilling men in cut-offs shorts. While these all certainly exist in
good number, a sizable portion of the eastern half of the country is
farmland. Acres and acres (OK, hectares and hectares) of paddocks,
pastures and cropland. Our friend Paul’s father is the proud owner of
one such farm about 90 minutes north of the city. We took a short drive
to see this ‘other side’ of Australia.
Morningside Farm, located on the Goulburn River just north of
Nagambie, Victoria, is less ‘farm’ in the sense of a traditional Midwest
dairy farm and more ‘ranch’ as in something out of the high plains of
Texas or eastern Montana. It is home to a few hundred Wagyu cattle, a
few dozen thoroughbred horses and countless kangaroos that pay the
simple paddock fences no mind.
We stopped in the small town of Nagambie to stock up on fruits,
vegetables and beer along the way. Meat, in the form of prime Wagyu
steak, was well stocked at the ranch and required no purchase. After
arrival and unpacking we took an evening stroll, drinks in hand, to
observe and discuss the finer points of cattle breeding and general
animal husbandry. A particularly unfortunate previous member of their
herd provided a delicious main course later that night. It is hard to
beat local Wagyu on the ‘barbie’.
The next morning we took a leisurely tour of the grounds, stopping by
the river frontage and checking in on the various components of the
herd. It was hot (nearly 100) and the flies were out in full force.
Simple reminders that, if only for a moment, one thinks farming is a
luxury profession that they are mistaken. Also, a good justification for
an afternoon nap. Post nap, we packed up, took a ride on the 6-wheel
gators down to the river and then headed for home.
Kaikoura and Christchurch
18 December 2015 Kaikoura, New Zealand
We had three days to burn before our friends Luke and Sara arrived in
Christchurch from the US, so we headed north. Kaikoura is a coastal town
about 180 km north of Christchurch. With New Zealand’s narrow and windy
roads, it is a two and half hour drive at best.
We arrived to a sunny, but windy day. Checked in to our modest
seaside hotel and set off on foot to circumambulate the Kaikoura
Peninsula. On our journey we stopped at a roadside seafood barbecue for
a cheap and satisfying lunch. We then encountered a colony of seals, one
of which found the elevated walkway to be its favored sunning spot.
After the seal colony, the path climbed up the bluff and the next hour
of walking provided amazing views of the coast below and the snow-peaked
Kaikoura Range
On day two, the weather turned a bit sour, windy with rain
threatening. Undaunted, we set out for a hike up Mt. Fyffe just out of
town. The trail proved steep as it was an old forest road that took the
shortest (steepest) possible route up the ridge. At about half way, we
entered the clouds. Though we trekked on, hoping for a clearing and the
magnificent views of the town and the coast, the clouds did not pass and
the views were minimal. The hike proved to be a good a training run for
later hikes on this trip. As an added bonus we hiked down with an
American couple who had quit their jobs and had been traveling for the
past six months. They had good tips for places to see at some of our
upcoming locations.
For dinner, we stopped at the road side mussel stand near our hotel.
I misread the menu and ordered what I thought was a Whitefish Sammie.
What I actually ordered was a ‘Whitebait Sammie’. What I got was a
handfull of small minnows cooked into an omelette of sorts, topped with
a huge chunk of butter and placed between two pieces of Wonderbread.
Apparently a local delicacy. It wasn’t actually too bad (due to the
butter) if you didn’t look at what you were eating.
We tried unsuccessfully to hire (rent) kayaks the next morning and
then decided to head down to the Banks Peninsula for the day before
picking up Luke and Sara much later that evening. The drive from
Christchurch to Akaroa (the center of the Banks Peninsula) was
incredibly windy but also very picturesque. The quaint town of Akaroa is
set in a large bay with steep, sheep-covered hills on all sides. A good
side trip and a relaxing end to our first three days in New Zealand.
